St. Louis-based SSM Health has reported a 2022 operating loss of $248.9 million after its expenses increased 7.6 percent over the previous year.

Springfield, Mass.-based Baystate Health and medical services provider Shields Health are closing their urgent care clinic locations in Feeding Hills, Longmeadow and Westfield, Mass., masslive.com reported March 23.

Most consumers don't challenge or negotiate the medical bills they receive, but the majority of those who do are successful in getting the disputed charges reduced or removed, according to a March 21 survey from Akasa, a revenue cycle firm that uses artificial intelligence.

Tuscaloosa, Ala.-based DCH Health System is giving at least 5 percent pay increase to all employees beginning April 13.

Sacramento-based Sutter Health reported an operating gain of $278 million in 2022 as expenses were largely on a par with 2021.

It's fair to say North Carolina's treasurer, Dale Folwell, isn't on great speaking terms with the state's hospitals and health systems, many of its politicians, or health insurance companies for that matter.

The Federal Trade Commission has requested a budget of $590 million for 2024 — an increase of $160 million from 2022 — $70 million of which will go towards supporting the agency addressing healthcare merger challenges, rulemaking and investigations.

Washington hospitals are in dire financial straits. Service cuts and closures are inevitable if such losses continue, The News Tribune reported March 22. 

Renton, Wash.-based Providence had its second downgrade in less than a week amid higher expenses that helped lead to steeper-than-expected losses and an expectation of a multiyear recovery.

Cincinnati-based Bon Secours Mercy Health said it has put in place a number of initiatives that could boost the system by $280 million.

Johnson City, Tenn.-based Ballad Health confirmed it has terminated its engagement with Moody's after almost a year of not providing company information to the rating agency.

Valor Health in Emmett, Idaho, is facing its financial headwinds as a rural hospital with a focus on what its community needs most, The Emmett Messenger Index reported March 21.

Patients and former employees are still grappling with unpaid wages and hospital bills a year after private-equity backed Noble Health abruptly shuttered two rural hospitals in Missouri, Kaiser Health News reported March 22.

The American Hospital Association has pushed back against proposed site-neutral payment cuts, arguing that they would reduce access to key healthcare services, particularly in rural and underserved communities.

Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Health has reported net operating income of $121 million on revenue of almost $14 billion in 2022.

Hollister, Calif.-based Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital is withdrawing its Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice, first issued in December 2022, after the hospital has improved its financial situation. 

Vancouver, Wash.-based PeaceHealth was downgraded as the 10-hospital system continues to deal with "considerable operating stress," Fitch Ratings said March 21.

While demand for healthcare services is robust, the biggest question mark remains over the sector's ongoing struggle with labor costs, S&P said in a March 21 report.

Bedford, N.H.-based SolutionHealth has reached an agreement with New Hampshire to operate a new $60 million behavioral health hospital in the southern part of the state, The New Hampshire Union Leader reported March 20.

Georgia's lieutenant governor is pressuring the state's House to pass a measure allowing hospitals to be built in smaller counties without applying for a certificate of need, which would greenlight a new hospital in his home county, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported March 20.